What is SPARRA?

Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission is a risk prediction tool developed by ISD which predicts an individual's risk of being admitted to hospital as an emergency inpatient within the next year.

What is a SPARRA Score?

Scores are calculated for approximately 4.2 million patients. Information on those whose score indicates that they may be at increased risk of emergency admission are accessed by authorised health care professionals in NHS Boards, CHPs and GP practices. SPARRA scores can range from 1 to 99% for patients in the cohort. Patients with a score of 50%, for example, are generally said to have a 1 in 2 chance of being admitted to hospital in the prediction year.

What is the purpose of SPARRA?

There is growing recognition of the need to shift from a healthcare system geared towards reactive, hospital-based treatment of acute conditions to one that is more community based with a preventative and anticipatory approach.

SPARRA data can help health care professionals to prioritise patients with complex care needs who are likely to benefit most from anticipatory health care. SPARRA data can also be used in a service planning capacity by locating groups of patients who would benefit from specific interventions or services.

ISD is a division of NHS NSS
Working at the very heart of the health service, NSS delivers services critical to frontline patient care and in support of the efficient and effective operation of NHS Scotland. Visit the NSS Website for more information